Categories

March 26, 2018

On August 10, 2017, in In re Mathias, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held ERISA Section 502(e)(2) venue provisions do not invalidate a forum-selection clause contained in plan documents, in a 2-1 split decision.

Case Background

George Mathias sued his employer Caterpillar and its ERISA-governed health plan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he resided. The plan documents, however, required any suit to be brought in federal court in the Central District of Illinois, so Caterpillar moved to transfer the case. Mathias opposed the motion, arguing that ERISA’s venue provision invalidated the plan’s forum-selection clause. His argument was rejected and Caterpillar’s motion to transfer the case was granted in a decision relying on a Sixth Circuit decision in Smith v. Aegon Cos. Pension Plan, which held that forum-selection clauses in ERISA plans are enforceable and

Categories

March 21, 2018

On October 12, 2017, President Trump signed a “Presidential Executive Order Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States” (the “Executive Order”) to “facilitate the purchase of insurance across State Lines and the development and operation of a healthcare system that provides high-quality care at affordable prices for the American People.” One of the stated goals in the Executive Order is to expand access to and allow more employers to form Association Health Plans (“AHPs”). In furtherance of this goal, the Executive Order directed the Department of Labor to consider proposing new rules to expand the definition of “employer” under Section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The Department of Labor issued its proposed rule on January 5, 2018.

In Part 1 of this “Deep Dive” series, we started examining the history of AHPs and the effects of the changes proposed by the Trump Administration

Categories

March 7, 2018

On October 12, 2017, President Trump signed a “Presidential Executive Order Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States” (the “Executive Order”) to “facilitate the purchase of insurance across State Lines and the development and operation of a healthcare system that provides high-quality care at affordable prices for the American People.” One of the stated goals in the Executive Order is to expand access to and allow more employers to form Association Health Plans (“AHPs”). In furtherance of this goal, the Executive Order directed the Department of Labor to consider proposing new rules to expand the definition of “employer” under Section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The Department of Labor issued its proposed rule on January 5, 2018.

With the renewed focus on AHPs, we will be examining the history of AHPs and

March 6, 2018

Authored by:

Categories

March 6, 2018

In May 2017, the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2017-37 announcing the inflation-adjusted health savings account contribution limits for 2018 as $3,450 for self-only coverage and $6,900 for family coverage. However, this week the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2018-18, which supersedes Rev. Proc. 2017-37 and reflects a decrease in the 2018 annual contribution limit for family coverage to $6,850. Employers that provide a high deductible health plan option to their employees with a health savings account feature should ensure that their communications and systems are updated accordingly.

Contact Us

The attorneys of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner make this site available to you only for the educational purposes of imparting general information and a general understanding of the law. This site does not offer specific legal advice. Your use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Bryan Cave LLP or any of its attorneys. Do not use this site as a substitute for specific legal advice from a licensed attorney. Much of the information on this site is based upon preliminary discussions in the absence of definitive advice or policy statements and therefore may change as soon as more definitive advice is available. Please review our full disclaimer.